This invention relates to improvements in small arms ammunition and more particularly to improved small arms ammunition having a conventional primed cartridge case and a hollow projectile in tubular geometric form.
While the present invention is of general application to all forms of ammunition and small arms ammunition in particular, the same was developed in connection with a program to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of the M1911A1 caliber 0.45 U.S. pistol and hence the invention and more particularly the preferred embodiment set forth herein will be described in association with a discussion of this weapon. However, as will be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the concepts for improvement of ammunition herein disclosed are fully applicable to all forms of small arms ammunition and will have special application to hand weapons, such as pistols for personal defense and to manual weapons of relatively light weight used against lightly armored human targets wherein the novel ammunition enhances the terminal effectiveness of conventional rounds without any modification of such weapons.
The M1911A1 caliber 0.45 U.S. pistol is not generally viewed as an accurate weapon when the same is employed by the average soldier. The weapon is structurally sound and the standard projectile, weighing 230 grains is launched at approximately 860 ft/sec muzzle velocity. Due to the weapon's mechanical strength and the fact that large quantities of this weapon have been produced, distributed, and stockpiled, it would be highly advantageous to maintain the weapon in its current form but to design new ammunition employing a standard cartridge case and primer, which would improve the weapon's effectiveness by increasing the kinetic energy delivered to the target.
While numerous studies have been directed to the M1911A1 caliber, 0.45 U.S. pistol, these studies have tended to place more emphasis on the weapons functional characteristics than on the projectile employed therein. For instance, the U.S. Army Small Arms Organization investigated the performance characteristics of various components within the weapon such as the time displacement history of the slide, the hammer fall, the peak total resistance to recoil, and slide and frame impact. Additionally, an instrumented test arrangement was employed to measure the three forces and the three moments acting about the three orthogonal coordinate axis of the weapon during firing.
Further, biophysics or wound ballistic testing and analysis revealed that the standard caliber 0.45 projectile often fails to deposit a substantial portion of its kinetic energy upon hitting an unprotected (normally clothed) individual. Thus, although the projectile made a relatively large wound track, the projectile would not expend sufficient energy within the target media and hence could exit the target with a substantial amount of retained energy. Additionally, recent testing has also shown that the new Kevlar body armor will prevent the standard 0.45 caliber projectile from penetrating both the Kevlar material and the body, even when the same impacts at muzzle velocity. The standard caliber 0.45 projectile also cannot penetrate the new Kevlar helmet.
While these studies may have provided more detailed information about the interaction of the weapon's components and the effectiveness of the projectile fired thereby, none of the studies have led to a successful improvement in the weapon's effectiveness and its wound ballistic capability in the hands of the average soldier.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide improved small arms ammunition capable of being employed in conventional weapons, especially pistols.
A further object of this invention is to provide small arms ammunition exhibiting markedly improved accuracy and effectiveness characteristics.
An additional object of this invention is to provide improved small arms ammunition capable of high muzzle velocity.
Another object of this invention is to provide improved small arms ammunition exhibiting higher energy deposit characteristics in unprotected target media.
A further object of this invention is to provide improved small arms ammunition capable of penetrating currently available body armor without a significant loss in target penetration.
An additional object of this invention is to provide improved small arms ammunition exhibiting markedly reduced recoil characteristics.
Various other objects and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment thereof, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in conjunction with the claims appended hereto.